Indian Gold Dollar Type III

$1 Indian Gold Coin Type III Quick Facts

90% Gold; 10% Copper

Design by James Longacre

14.3 mm; .04835 oz.; pure gold

Mintage: 1856-1889

The Type III $1 Indian Gold Coin — preserving the dream

When James Longacre undertook the design of the Type III $1 Indian, he faced the challenge of preserving the classic design of his Type II coin, while correcting the problems that had plagued mintage of the original.
Longacre’s solution was to expand the scale of the Type II coin, while maintaining most of the coin’s stunning detail. On the obverse, the original portrait of Lady Liberty as an Indian Princess, with only minor changes to her headdress, was expanded and flattened. The wreath, date, and denomination on the obverse were likewise enlarged to facilitate mintage.
Longacre’s redesigned Type III $1 Indian Gold Coin was an unqualified success, and was minted for over three decades in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The 1861 Dahlonega (GA) coins are unique in that they were struck by the Confederacy. They are extremely rare, but no record of how many were struck has survived.